The Corpse Brigadier (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
corpsebrigadier) wrote2026-01-01 05:56 pm
corpsebrigadier) wrote2026-01-01 05:56 pm
Entry tags:
Dear Creator Letter: Candy Hearts 2026
Candy Hearts Letter for CorpseBrigadier on Ao3
Dear Creator,
Let me open by thanking you most heartily for making something for me and for having great taste in imaginary relationships. Additionally, let me note that I'm deeply into the low-stakes, bite-sized nature of the exchange and a firm proponent of optional details being optional, so if your heart is set on a concept that isn't quite in alignment with some of the prompts/ideas here, feel free to follow your muse. I'm a big fan of the unconventional, experimental, and weird in fanworks, and I am always happy to be introduced to something new or offbeat. Whatever direction you opt to take, I'm very excited about whatever you choose to create and looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
[NOTE: This letter will be functionally complete at the time it is made public, but it may be tweaked to adjust details/add requests through the end of sign-ups. It will not be altered save to correct grammar/spelling after the end of sign-ups.]
General (DNWs, Likes, Opt-Ins) | Crossover Fandom | Betrayal at Krondor | Final Fantasy Tactics | Rusalochka (1976) | The Wizard's Shadow
Do Not Wants:
• ageplay
• omegaverse
• pregnancy-related kinks (ex: breeding kink, mpreg, worshipful focus on pregnant bellies, etc...); narrative explorations of childbearing, pregnancy, and reproduction more than welcome
• scat/emeto (unsexy mentions of vomit and feces are okay)
Opt-Ins:
• all archive warnings for all canons in which I don't DNW one.
• comics, animated artwork, and illustrated fic
• epistolary fiction
• interactive fiction (I like IF a lot, you can check out myunconventionalfanworksex letter here for details.)
• non-linear narratives
• drabble sequences
• NSFW for all canons in which I don't DNW it
• whatever person/tense is your jam
General Likes:
• absurd humor
• angst
• bittersweetness
• black humor
• character death
• complex family relationships
• hurt/comfort
• illness and injury (plague and head trauma in particular)
• fever dreams
• existential despair
• stoicism in the face of terrible things
• surreal imagery
• torture; religious, mythological, and/or plant-based symbolism
• whimsy
• whump
Smut Likes:
• awkward, bad, or inept sex that's still enthusiastic
• blasphemy/sacrilege kink
• clothed or partially clothed sex
• drunk/drugged sex
• hate sex
• non-con/dub-con in general
• non-penetrative sex
• strangulation/breathplay
• undead sex
• violent sex
Art Likes: I like things with dynamic poses; things that are cute/cartoonish; things that do something offbeat and a little bit exaggerated/surreal; and things that are a little over-stylized and dripping with symbolic imagery. Limited palettes and starkly inked black and white pieces are close to my heart as I am a rotten colorist and have an affinity for styles I could conceivably emulate. I also tend to like things that are de-saturated or a washed out looking. As with my general likes, I'm a sucker for anything that has cool symbolism with plants and religion in it
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Jack Delroy (Late Night with the Devil)/Sissy St Claire (Give Me Pity!) | Jack Delroy (Late Night with the Devil) & Sissy St Claire (Give Me Pity!)
I really enjoy both of these films about TV special events gone very wrong, and I really think it would be incredibly interesting to put the two central characters into dialogue with one another either through and & or an / ship. While Jack and Sissy are from different periods, trading in different forms of entertainment, and beset by different neuroses, both of them are desperate for a specific strain of media attention and are willing to allow a little on-the-air bloodshed to attain it. I'm interested in seeing Sissy say increasingly inappropriate/weird things with complete confidence. I'm interested in Jack refusing to acknowledge that anything could be going wrong even when things are very clearly going wrong. I'm interested in anything that brings these two toxic personalities together and looks at them in conjunction with one another. From casual encounters in Hollywood to Sissy being Night Owls' absolute worst guest to meetings in the surreal dreamspaces both characters touch upon--I'd just love to see what happens when they intermingle. An appearance by either or both film's psychics would doubtlessly also add to the drama.
Artwise, you can go really wild with the horror vibes here if you like--I'm a-okay with canon-typical blood and gore, and it would be fun to try to replicate the aesthetics of either the very 70s Night Owls or the very 80s Sissy St Claire television special. Mockups of promotions of some television event featuring both characters could be an interesting take, as could a captioned newspaper shot of the inevitably dreadful fallout of the two of them intersecting.
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This game was pretty influential in my youth, and it begat some of my earliest ships, even if they were visually portrayed by random bystanders pulled aside to wear cheap Halloween wigs. I adore this canon's sense of an expansive, varied world, its focus on the growing relationship between two unlikely friends, and its willingness to brutalize the player with both unforgiving status ailments and a thoroughly crushing finale.
Gorath/Owyn: Gorath/Owyn is perhaps one of my oldest ships, and I am happy to see just about anything imaginable for them. I'd love things that explore them as foils growing closer over the course of a shared adventure, stuff that looks to how the extremities of that adventure bring them closer together, and explorations as to how the two of them could navigate a dynamic that would feature a rather massive age gap and power imbalance. I'd love looks at the characters that either focus on the growing intimacy between them as they get to know one another through the day-to-day travel that makes up most of the narrative or that focuses in on the whumpy, angsty episodes they endure together (kidnapped and set to be tortured/executed, lost on an alien world, engaging in plots to sell Owyn into slavery for Reasons). Feel free to go very dark if you opt for the latter path, but know that I'm here for pretty much anything for these two.
Artwise, I'd be interested in scenes of Gorath and Owyn in the Northlands, possibly emerging from Sar-Sargoth or recovering from nearly drowning. I'd also be into mundane instances of day-to-day happenings on the road (healing cantrips, drinking at shady taverns, Owyn trying to busk for money). Really though, any rendering of them that renders them in a new light beyond what we see in their grainy, 1993, bewigged in-game imagery would be lovely.
Gorath/Delekhan: I love ships that are acrimonious, hateful, toxic, and violent, and I'd love to see more of Gorath's history with Delkhan before he decided to flee the Northlands and proffer aid to the Kingdom. How did they regard one another as chieftains prior to both the events of the game or during the age of Murmandamus' failed campaign. What parallels might they have found in one another before they became bitter enemies. I'm also for all manner of contemporary-to-game whump and darkfic during the time of Owyn and Gorath's capture in the Northlands. Really feel free to get miserable or messy with these two in any scenario you decide upon.
In terms of art, showing a younger Gorath and Delkhan back in their pre-canon days would be interesting, and I'm ever a sucker for any depiction of people working out their feelings through violent combat. If you want to hone in on Chapter IV, there's obvious directions one could go with the visceral moment of Delkhan slapping Gorath around and whispering something into his ear. In general though, I'm just glad for art in general for a canon where the visuals haven't aged--perhaps--as well as the prose.
Owyn/Ugyne | Neville/Ugyne | Owyn & Neville & Ugyne: I understand that there can't really be ongoing plot impacts from the potential revelations of Chapter III, given that the game allows one to identify the nighthawk leader in multiple ways and it's simple enough to just commit to foregoing snacks at the Temple of Kahooli instead of getting the full reveal that Owyn's supposedly dead cousin is now the head of an assassin guild and is bent on avenging himself on the father who tried to kill him by courting and marrying his own sister. I'd love to see any deeper dive into the Corvalis family drama than what we get in canon, Owyn having to grapple more visibly with the realities of the crimes of the noble classes in which he's enmeshed, and I'd love to get more of a perspective of the relationship between these three characters, who all obviously knew one another in youth. Feel free to go gen and delve into the dynamics between Owyn and the Corvalis siblings either in the pre-canon past or the incredibly messy present. Feel free too to delve to the canonically implied incestuousness of Neville reappearing as Ugyne's suitor or Ugyne admitting (if you catch her in Chapters 1-2) that she had a girlhood crush on Owyn.
Artwise, if you're veering for the & relationship, it could be cute to see the characters reimagined as youth/children before all the schemes and assassination go down. I'd also be interested in seeing Ugyne interacting in isolation with her cousin or her brother (as a brother or as a suitor)--feel free to throw in the spyglass as a visual detail or object of interest.
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This game has been my major fandom for a few years now. I love how immensely unrepentantly bleak it is, how it's full of Church-flavored horror, and how it is just filled to the brim with unhappy families. I'm entirely here for political backstabbing and endless misery 24/7 in this sad little world of grid-based warfare. I love pretty much everything within it, and I would frankly be happy to receive almost anything for this fandom. In particular, I'm interested in the dynamics between characters
Agrias Oaks/Milleuda Folles: Milleuda is a member of the commoner army who was disenfranchised by the Crown; Agrias is an overwhelmingly good egg who had dedicated her life to being chilvaric and honorable and defending that crown. I feel these two--being of roughly the same age--could well have met in the aftermath of the Fifty Years War and had some sort of rough back and forth about their respective roles as swordswomen in very different contexts, and I also think this likely bitter discussion on Ivalice's class system could have ended in angry makeouts. You don't have to incorporate TIC revelations that Agrias' family bought their titles and weren't originally part of the nobility, but this would add an additional dimension to their animosity and one could tie it in to Wiegraf eventually mocking Agrias for her father's actions.
In terms of art, I can envision Agrias getting a little flustered as Milleuda gets confrontational at some end-of-the-war fete. I could also enjoy fairly contextless images of some fighting or making out or fighting and making out. It would be cool to envision them as slightly younger before the aftermath of the last war solidified Milleuda's poverty and/or before Agrias was assigned to Orbonne.
Delita Heiral/Isilud Tengille: Isilud and Delita are implied to know one another based on Isilud's combat dialogue, and within the context of the church conspiracy they both inhabit, I think Delita would find Isilud highly insufferable. He's a naive true believer in The Cause where Delita is a cynical opportunist primed to be suspicious of power. I feel like there should be friction there--particularly given the ways in which Isilud brings to mind Chapter 1 Ramza in his simplistic view of the world and its stakes. As always, from that friction, I feel there should be opportunity for fraught kissing, and a potential comparison of world views.
Artwise, I feel like it would be interesting to show a slice of life in the downtime between Chapter's 1 and 2 of the game as Delita acclimates to being a church agent and no doubt is thrown into Isilud's company (sparring, praying, strategizing, etc...). I also think they'd just look neat next to one another, possibly in a stylized stained-glass or medievalesque manuscript style. Feel free to use images of fish/pisces in relation to Isilud--as I am ever a sucker for zodiac stone imagery.
Goffard Gaffgarion/Cidolfus Orlandeau: Ramza gets two incredibly different old man mentors over the course of the narrative and they both were fighters in the same armed conflict, albeit in ways that left them with very very different viewpoints. One is an exemplar of nobility and loyalty who feels that Ivalice was fighting the good fight when it unilaterally invaded Ordallia. One is a cynical sellsword who believes money is the only meaningful way to compete with the nobility and who ostensibly did some level of war crimes. I think it would be neat to see these two characters with very different ideologies born of the same conflict come into contact and compare notes--possibly as youths entangled in the Fifty Years War, possibly as older and supposedly wiser men looking back upon it. As always, I feel this type of ideological comparison is best captured by having it spill over into awkward sexual tension.
Visually, I'd be really interested in seeing your take on a younger Gaffgarion and Cid and what they look like during an earlier phase of life when The War(tm) is only a Twenty Years War. I'm also here for them fighting/posing/making out as we see them in game. Feel free to provide overpower-sword-arts old man yaoi for this request.
Simon Penn-Lachish/Zalmour Lucianda: There's only really two characters committed to the office of the Inquisition full time in the history of the game (I know Elmdore is also affiliated, but he has other stuff going on). One of them has a mysterious "incident" in his past that led to his retirement to Orbonne. One of them is presented as an unwavering religious fanatic completely confident in his actions. I would love to hear the story of whatever led Simon to abandon his post. I would also love to see interactions between Simon and Zalmour when both are in the Inquisition, with one clearly headed towards a loss of faith and one moving towards fanaticism. As always, I think the key to these interactions in which we compare tangentially related character arcs is for the characters being compared to make out at some point--which could be interesting here as a catalyst for the changes in career both men face.
In terms of art, I'd once more be gung ho about seeing reimaginings of the characters as younger, and I'd once more be very keen in something that goes wild with religious imagery and iconography. Feel free to get a little abstract and symbolic if it suits you. Images that draw on specific episodes of the Glabados mythos (icons, wells, gallows) would also be welcome.
Valmafra Lenade/Meliadoul Tengille: Much like Delita/Isilud, this ship is about two church conspiracy members where there's a large gap in precisely how much they seem to believe in the validity and good intentions of the church. I also just think it's cool to have an honor-bound swordswoman who does her best to be a good girl tossed into the company of a far more world-weary and cynical witch who seems to have a lot of cutting things to say about the ideals of others. I think it would be very cool for Valmafra to critique Meliadoul's beliefs and make some moves towards seducing her out of them. I think it would be very cool to play with the particulars of religiousity and witchcraft. Please feel free to make up whatever cool pieces of witchery/Glabadosian belief you feel would best enhance any scenario between these two--as both are fairly underdeveloped in game.
In terms of art, going with imagery pertaining to witchcraft and religion would be awesome. I'm also--as with all of the ships for this canon, very down for medievalesque styling, ostentatious use of symbols (feel free to add archers/Sagittarius imagery for Meliadoul) and simple illustrations of the characters posing, sparring, and/or making out.
Zalbaag Beoulve/Wiegraf Folles: This is my highly unintuitive OTP, and I am absolutely happy to receive anything imaginable for it. I adore all the potential here, and if you want a very TL:DR breakdown, I wrote an extensive ship manifesto explaining my rationale for this ship. Zalbag and Wiegraf are two characters of roughly the same age who had their lives impacted by the same war, and I'd love to see things that look to how their different respective outlooks and social ranks affected them before they went on to star in some capital T Tragedy and turn into a boss battle. I'm particularly into hate sex and high toxicity for these two, but I'm stoked to see any take on them you can imagine. If you are so inspired and can pull off fluff or happy endings for these two, have at it. Feel free also to set things whenever and wherever you want. Pre-canon, mid-canon, AU: it's all good!
In terms of art, I'm similarly of a stance that anything goes for this. Draw them as pre-canon Fifty Years War soldiers, as mid-canon opponents, or just abstractly two cool guys hanging out. I am really A+ 110% all right with some injury and blood as it is applicable, and I continue to be up for dumb animal imagery in FFT art. Sheep are great. I will never get tired of Wiegraf being drawn in conjunction with or as sheep. If you're doing something appropriately cutesy and want to throw in a monkey too (Zalbag was jokingly referred to as "Monkey Bag" in the sound test menus for the game in Japanese), go for it.
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or FIC]
I finally saw this gorgeous retelling of The Little Mermaid last year, and I remain utterly enchanted by it. I love its dreamy, surreal visuals. I love its wild and fun divergences from the Hans Christian Anderson original. I love how much the prince and princess in it are enfleshed and made into much more palpable characters, and I love the addition of the quixotic and strange figure of Sulpitius. Overall, I just love how achingly, gorgeously bittersweet the whole spectacle presented is.
Sulpitius/Mermaid | Sulpitius & Mermaid: Sulpitius appears to be some manner of pre-incarnation or alter ego of the presumable figure of Hans Christen Anderson in the framing narrative, and I think he's a fascinating and compelling addition to the story. He's just a guy... who finds and befriends a mermaid and makes the decision to coax the local witch into putting a "get out of death free if somebody romantically dies for you" clause into her leg-making spell... and then he romantically dies for her! I'd love to see more of either his interactions with her during her brief and ill-fated pursuit of the prince or an examination of his own yearning after and evident interest in her.
In terms of art, anything that matches with the strange Breugelesque dancing/twirling of his early musical number sung to her would be incredibly cool, although you can really go for any stylized/fairytalesque rendering of characters for this film and it will work well (I feel there's a definite way in which they can be reconfigured as lady and champion if you're inclined to go that route). Feel free to riff on the Eriksen statue if you're so moved.
Princess/Mermaid: I love the princess in this film: capricious, coquettish, bratty but also very aware of these qualities within her. She's evidently deeply into the mermaid as a curiosity and mystery and spends a good portion of the film clinging to her, talking about needling out her secret, holding tourneys on her behalf, and seeing her marry well. I feel like one could take that possessive fascination with an intriguing toy even farther, especially if she does manage to have her real origins confirmed or learn that all her enchanting dancing comes at such a painful cost. Feel free to go a little dark if you are so inclined, I feel this is a ship that has both potential as something sweet and innocent or as something cruel and capricious.
As with the prior ship mentioned, I think art that fits with the conventions of fairy tales and illustrations thereof would fit well for this ship. I think scenes that focus on the princess' interest in the mermaid's dancing have a particular potential to be interesting given the implied pain this spectacle involves, but having them embracing, engaging in courtly pastimes, or witnessing the bloodsport of the a tournament together are all other possibilities.
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This was my absolute favorite novel at around age twelve, and twelve-year old me had great taste. There's so much to love about this canon: fraught sibling relationships, cool takes on magic, a harrowingly violent opening chapter, an enchanted snakebaby gunning for the throne. I really love all the tropes Dexter is dealing in in this novel and I love how this piece ended up as a standalone entry in her world with the promise of Crocken and Miall enjoying future adventures never explored in a sequel.
Rhisiart/Miall: I deeply love the messed up fraternal relationships in this novel and I am deeply interested in the messy incestuous potential of the already deeply messy House of the Falcon. Miall coming into the House as a stranger and becoming the protector and sparring partner of his tragically sickly brother destined for heroism and kingship is such a deeply compelling dynamic and I'd love to see that relationship pushed to in extreme and obsessive directions, potentially underscoring Miall's seeming hatred and continued protectiveness as a shadow. Feel free to look either to the dynamics between the brothers in their youths or as undying shadow and very depressed regent.
In terms of art, making pieces that focus on the significance of shadows throughout the story could be really striking and potent--particularly playing with the animals Miall shows Rhisiart in his childhood or the phantom rider on Stormraker. It would also be cool to see the brothers in their youth with prophetic shadows of their respective futures being cast.
Rhisiart/Crocken: Crocken is so deeply into Rhisiart. Just meets the guy, meticulously learns everything about his tragic past, and determines they need to be bosom chums while he attempts to thwart multiple assassination attempts upon him. Turning this from a friendship into something with a romantic/sexual dimension would not be difficult and would add the additional deeply weird twist of Miall having to tag along and react (or even potentially comment).
Once again, I'm very cool with shadow heavy artwork for the shadow novel! Feel free to have Miall hanging around a picture where Crocken's sharing some emotional or tender moment with Rhisiart. I think it could also be interesting to have shadows of their respective pasts visible--Rhisiart as a man surrounded by a wife and child and Crocken as a beset peddler far flung from the finery of Amryn's court.
Rhisiart/Miall/Crocken: Crocken/Rhisiart is already weird and uncomfortable enough, given the former's attachment to the miserable ghost of the latter's brother, but I think it could be even more awkward still if rendered as Crocken/Rhisiart/Miall in a fashion where the shadow is experiencing/acting on some past desire. >:] This is also a perfect scenario in which the presence of unseen hands could be felt in a close encounter and the weirdness of shadowfuckery could be explored.
I think the optimal sort of art here probably involves some interaction between either Crocken/Rhisiart with an unseen shadow weighing in on the action, or between Rhisiart/Miall with Crocken as the awkward observer. An embrace that's awkwardly doubled but distorted in shadow form could work really well here. I think there's also potential for Crocken fussing over the wounded Rhisiart while his shadow fusses in some other direction or fashion.
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Dear Creator,
Let me open by thanking you most heartily for making something for me and for having great taste in imaginary relationships. Additionally, let me note that I'm deeply into the low-stakes, bite-sized nature of the exchange and a firm proponent of optional details being optional, so if your heart is set on a concept that isn't quite in alignment with some of the prompts/ideas here, feel free to follow your muse. I'm a big fan of the unconventional, experimental, and weird in fanworks, and I am always happy to be introduced to something new or offbeat. Whatever direction you opt to take, I'm very excited about whatever you choose to create and looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
[NOTE: This letter will be functionally complete at the time it is made public, but it may be tweaked to adjust details/add requests through the end of sign-ups. It will not be altered save to correct grammar/spelling after the end of sign-ups.]
General (DNWs, Likes, Opt-Ins) | Crossover Fandom | Betrayal at Krondor | Final Fantasy Tactics | Rusalochka (1976) | The Wizard's Shadow
General (DNWs, Likes, Opt-Ins, Etc...)
Do Not Wants:
• ageplay
• omegaverse
• pregnancy-related kinks (ex: breeding kink, mpreg, worshipful focus on pregnant bellies, etc...); narrative explorations of childbearing, pregnancy, and reproduction more than welcome
• scat/emeto (unsexy mentions of vomit and feces are okay)
Opt-Ins:
• all archive warnings for all canons in which I don't DNW one.
• comics, animated artwork, and illustrated fic
• epistolary fiction
• interactive fiction (I like IF a lot, you can check out my
unconventionalfanworksex letter here for details.)• non-linear narratives
• drabble sequences
• NSFW for all canons in which I don't DNW it
• whatever person/tense is your jam
General Likes:
• absurd humor
• angst
• bittersweetness
• black humor
• character death
• complex family relationships
• hurt/comfort
• illness and injury (plague and head trauma in particular)
• fever dreams
• existential despair
• stoicism in the face of terrible things
• surreal imagery
• torture; religious, mythological, and/or plant-based symbolism
• whimsy
• whump
Smut Likes:
• awkward, bad, or inept sex that's still enthusiastic
• blasphemy/sacrilege kink
• clothed or partially clothed sex
• drunk/drugged sex
• hate sex
• non-con/dub-con in general
• non-penetrative sex
• strangulation/breathplay
• undead sex
• violent sex
Art Likes: I like things with dynamic poses; things that are cute/cartoonish; things that do something offbeat and a little bit exaggerated/surreal; and things that are a little over-stylized and dripping with symbolic imagery. Limited palettes and starkly inked black and white pieces are close to my heart as I am a rotten colorist and have an affinity for styles I could conceivably emulate. I also tend to like things that are de-saturated or a washed out looking. As with my general likes, I'm a sucker for anything that has cool symbolism with plants and religion in it
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Crossover Fandom
[Requesting FIC or ART]Jack Delroy (Late Night with the Devil)/Sissy St Claire (Give Me Pity!) | Jack Delroy (Late Night with the Devil) & Sissy St Claire (Give Me Pity!)
I really enjoy both of these films about TV special events gone very wrong, and I really think it would be incredibly interesting to put the two central characters into dialogue with one another either through and & or an / ship. While Jack and Sissy are from different periods, trading in different forms of entertainment, and beset by different neuroses, both of them are desperate for a specific strain of media attention and are willing to allow a little on-the-air bloodshed to attain it. I'm interested in seeing Sissy say increasingly inappropriate/weird things with complete confidence. I'm interested in Jack refusing to acknowledge that anything could be going wrong even when things are very clearly going wrong. I'm interested in anything that brings these two toxic personalities together and looks at them in conjunction with one another. From casual encounters in Hollywood to Sissy being Night Owls' absolute worst guest to meetings in the surreal dreamspaces both characters touch upon--I'd just love to see what happens when they intermingle. An appearance by either or both film's psychics would doubtlessly also add to the drama.
Artwise, you can go really wild with the horror vibes here if you like--I'm a-okay with canon-typical blood and gore, and it would be fun to try to replicate the aesthetics of either the very 70s Night Owls or the very 80s Sissy St Claire television special. Mockups of promotions of some television event featuring both characters could be an interesting take, as could a captioned newspaper shot of the inevitably dreadful fallout of the two of them intersecting.
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Betrayal at Krondor
[Requesting FIC or ART]This game was pretty influential in my youth, and it begat some of my earliest ships, even if they were visually portrayed by random bystanders pulled aside to wear cheap Halloween wigs. I adore this canon's sense of an expansive, varied world, its focus on the growing relationship between two unlikely friends, and its willingness to brutalize the player with both unforgiving status ailments and a thoroughly crushing finale.
Gorath/Owyn: Gorath/Owyn is perhaps one of my oldest ships, and I am happy to see just about anything imaginable for them. I'd love things that explore them as foils growing closer over the course of a shared adventure, stuff that looks to how the extremities of that adventure bring them closer together, and explorations as to how the two of them could navigate a dynamic that would feature a rather massive age gap and power imbalance. I'd love looks at the characters that either focus on the growing intimacy between them as they get to know one another through the day-to-day travel that makes up most of the narrative or that focuses in on the whumpy, angsty episodes they endure together (kidnapped and set to be tortured/executed, lost on an alien world, engaging in plots to sell Owyn into slavery for Reasons). Feel free to go very dark if you opt for the latter path, but know that I'm here for pretty much anything for these two.
Artwise, I'd be interested in scenes of Gorath and Owyn in the Northlands, possibly emerging from Sar-Sargoth or recovering from nearly drowning. I'd also be into mundane instances of day-to-day happenings on the road (healing cantrips, drinking at shady taverns, Owyn trying to busk for money). Really though, any rendering of them that renders them in a new light beyond what we see in their grainy, 1993, bewigged in-game imagery would be lovely.
Gorath/Delekhan: I love ships that are acrimonious, hateful, toxic, and violent, and I'd love to see more of Gorath's history with Delkhan before he decided to flee the Northlands and proffer aid to the Kingdom. How did they regard one another as chieftains prior to both the events of the game or during the age of Murmandamus' failed campaign. What parallels might they have found in one another before they became bitter enemies. I'm also for all manner of contemporary-to-game whump and darkfic during the time of Owyn and Gorath's capture in the Northlands. Really feel free to get miserable or messy with these two in any scenario you decide upon.
In terms of art, showing a younger Gorath and Delkhan back in their pre-canon days would be interesting, and I'm ever a sucker for any depiction of people working out their feelings through violent combat. If you want to hone in on Chapter IV, there's obvious directions one could go with the visceral moment of Delkhan slapping Gorath around and whispering something into his ear. In general though, I'm just glad for art in general for a canon where the visuals haven't aged--perhaps--as well as the prose.
Owyn/Ugyne | Neville/Ugyne | Owyn & Neville & Ugyne: I understand that there can't really be ongoing plot impacts from the potential revelations of Chapter III, given that the game allows one to identify the nighthawk leader in multiple ways and it's simple enough to just commit to foregoing snacks at the Temple of Kahooli instead of getting the full reveal that Owyn's supposedly dead cousin is now the head of an assassin guild and is bent on avenging himself on the father who tried to kill him by courting and marrying his own sister. I'd love to see any deeper dive into the Corvalis family drama than what we get in canon, Owyn having to grapple more visibly with the realities of the crimes of the noble classes in which he's enmeshed, and I'd love to get more of a perspective of the relationship between these three characters, who all obviously knew one another in youth. Feel free to go gen and delve into the dynamics between Owyn and the Corvalis siblings either in the pre-canon past or the incredibly messy present. Feel free too to delve to the canonically implied incestuousness of Neville reappearing as Ugyne's suitor or Ugyne admitting (if you catch her in Chapters 1-2) that she had a girlhood crush on Owyn.
Artwise, if you're veering for the & relationship, it could be cute to see the characters reimagined as youth/children before all the schemes and assassination go down. I'd also be interested in seeing Ugyne interacting in isolation with her cousin or her brother (as a brother or as a suitor)--feel free to throw in the spyglass as a visual detail or object of interest.
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Final Fantasy Tactics
[Requesting FIC]This game has been my major fandom for a few years now. I love how immensely unrepentantly bleak it is, how it's full of Church-flavored horror, and how it is just filled to the brim with unhappy families. I'm entirely here for political backstabbing and endless misery 24/7 in this sad little world of grid-based warfare. I love pretty much everything within it, and I would frankly be happy to receive almost anything for this fandom. In particular, I'm interested in the dynamics between characters
Agrias Oaks/Milleuda Folles: Milleuda is a member of the commoner army who was disenfranchised by the Crown; Agrias is an overwhelmingly good egg who had dedicated her life to being chilvaric and honorable and defending that crown. I feel these two--being of roughly the same age--could well have met in the aftermath of the Fifty Years War and had some sort of rough back and forth about their respective roles as swordswomen in very different contexts, and I also think this likely bitter discussion on Ivalice's class system could have ended in angry makeouts. You don't have to incorporate TIC revelations that Agrias' family bought their titles and weren't originally part of the nobility, but this would add an additional dimension to their animosity and one could tie it in to Wiegraf eventually mocking Agrias for her father's actions.
In terms of art, I can envision Agrias getting a little flustered as Milleuda gets confrontational at some end-of-the-war fete. I could also enjoy fairly contextless images of some fighting or making out or fighting and making out. It would be cool to envision them as slightly younger before the aftermath of the last war solidified Milleuda's poverty and/or before Agrias was assigned to Orbonne.
Delita Heiral/Isilud Tengille: Isilud and Delita are implied to know one another based on Isilud's combat dialogue, and within the context of the church conspiracy they both inhabit, I think Delita would find Isilud highly insufferable. He's a naive true believer in The Cause where Delita is a cynical opportunist primed to be suspicious of power. I feel like there should be friction there--particularly given the ways in which Isilud brings to mind Chapter 1 Ramza in his simplistic view of the world and its stakes. As always, from that friction, I feel there should be opportunity for fraught kissing, and a potential comparison of world views.
Artwise, I feel like it would be interesting to show a slice of life in the downtime between Chapter's 1 and 2 of the game as Delita acclimates to being a church agent and no doubt is thrown into Isilud's company (sparring, praying, strategizing, etc...). I also think they'd just look neat next to one another, possibly in a stylized stained-glass or medievalesque manuscript style. Feel free to use images of fish/pisces in relation to Isilud--as I am ever a sucker for zodiac stone imagery.
Goffard Gaffgarion/Cidolfus Orlandeau: Ramza gets two incredibly different old man mentors over the course of the narrative and they both were fighters in the same armed conflict, albeit in ways that left them with very very different viewpoints. One is an exemplar of nobility and loyalty who feels that Ivalice was fighting the good fight when it unilaterally invaded Ordallia. One is a cynical sellsword who believes money is the only meaningful way to compete with the nobility and who ostensibly did some level of war crimes. I think it would be neat to see these two characters with very different ideologies born of the same conflict come into contact and compare notes--possibly as youths entangled in the Fifty Years War, possibly as older and supposedly wiser men looking back upon it. As always, I feel this type of ideological comparison is best captured by having it spill over into awkward sexual tension.
Visually, I'd be really interested in seeing your take on a younger Gaffgarion and Cid and what they look like during an earlier phase of life when The War(tm) is only a Twenty Years War. I'm also here for them fighting/posing/making out as we see them in game. Feel free to provide overpower-sword-arts old man yaoi for this request.
Simon Penn-Lachish/Zalmour Lucianda: There's only really two characters committed to the office of the Inquisition full time in the history of the game (I know Elmdore is also affiliated, but he has other stuff going on). One of them has a mysterious "incident" in his past that led to his retirement to Orbonne. One of them is presented as an unwavering religious fanatic completely confident in his actions. I would love to hear the story of whatever led Simon to abandon his post. I would also love to see interactions between Simon and Zalmour when both are in the Inquisition, with one clearly headed towards a loss of faith and one moving towards fanaticism. As always, I think the key to these interactions in which we compare tangentially related character arcs is for the characters being compared to make out at some point--which could be interesting here as a catalyst for the changes in career both men face.
In terms of art, I'd once more be gung ho about seeing reimaginings of the characters as younger, and I'd once more be very keen in something that goes wild with religious imagery and iconography. Feel free to get a little abstract and symbolic if it suits you. Images that draw on specific episodes of the Glabados mythos (icons, wells, gallows) would also be welcome.
Valmafra Lenade/Meliadoul Tengille: Much like Delita/Isilud, this ship is about two church conspiracy members where there's a large gap in precisely how much they seem to believe in the validity and good intentions of the church. I also just think it's cool to have an honor-bound swordswoman who does her best to be a good girl tossed into the company of a far more world-weary and cynical witch who seems to have a lot of cutting things to say about the ideals of others. I think it would be very cool for Valmafra to critique Meliadoul's beliefs and make some moves towards seducing her out of them. I think it would be very cool to play with the particulars of religiousity and witchcraft. Please feel free to make up whatever cool pieces of witchery/Glabadosian belief you feel would best enhance any scenario between these two--as both are fairly underdeveloped in game.
In terms of art, going with imagery pertaining to witchcraft and religion would be awesome. I'm also--as with all of the ships for this canon, very down for medievalesque styling, ostentatious use of symbols (feel free to add archers/Sagittarius imagery for Meliadoul) and simple illustrations of the characters posing, sparring, and/or making out.
Zalbaag Beoulve/Wiegraf Folles: This is my highly unintuitive OTP, and I am absolutely happy to receive anything imaginable for it. I adore all the potential here, and if you want a very TL:DR breakdown, I wrote an extensive ship manifesto explaining my rationale for this ship. Zalbag and Wiegraf are two characters of roughly the same age who had their lives impacted by the same war, and I'd love to see things that look to how their different respective outlooks and social ranks affected them before they went on to star in some capital T Tragedy and turn into a boss battle. I'm particularly into hate sex and high toxicity for these two, but I'm stoked to see any take on them you can imagine. If you are so inspired and can pull off fluff or happy endings for these two, have at it. Feel free also to set things whenever and wherever you want. Pre-canon, mid-canon, AU: it's all good!
In terms of art, I'm similarly of a stance that anything goes for this. Draw them as pre-canon Fifty Years War soldiers, as mid-canon opponents, or just abstractly two cool guys hanging out. I am really A+ 110% all right with some injury and blood as it is applicable, and I continue to be up for dumb animal imagery in FFT art. Sheep are great. I will never get tired of Wiegraf being drawn in conjunction with or as sheep. If you're doing something appropriately cutesy and want to throw in a monkey too (Zalbag was jokingly referred to as "Monkey Bag" in the sound test menus for the game in Japanese), go for it.
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Rusalochka (1976)
[Requesting ARTor FIC]
I finally saw this gorgeous retelling of The Little Mermaid last year, and I remain utterly enchanted by it. I love its dreamy, surreal visuals. I love its wild and fun divergences from the Hans Christian Anderson original. I love how much the prince and princess in it are enfleshed and made into much more palpable characters, and I love the addition of the quixotic and strange figure of Sulpitius. Overall, I just love how achingly, gorgeously bittersweet the whole spectacle presented is.
Sulpitius/Mermaid | Sulpitius & Mermaid: Sulpitius appears to be some manner of pre-incarnation or alter ego of the presumable figure of Hans Christen Anderson in the framing narrative, and I think he's a fascinating and compelling addition to the story. He's just a guy... who finds and befriends a mermaid and makes the decision to coax the local witch into putting a "get out of death free if somebody romantically dies for you" clause into her leg-making spell... and then he romantically dies for her! I'd love to see more of either his interactions with her during her brief and ill-fated pursuit of the prince or an examination of his own yearning after and evident interest in her.
In terms of art, anything that matches with the strange Breugelesque dancing/twirling of his early musical number sung to her would be incredibly cool, although you can really go for any stylized/fairytalesque rendering of characters for this film and it will work well (I feel there's a definite way in which they can be reconfigured as lady and champion if you're inclined to go that route). Feel free to riff on the Eriksen statue if you're so moved.
Princess/Mermaid: I love the princess in this film: capricious, coquettish, bratty but also very aware of these qualities within her. She's evidently deeply into the mermaid as a curiosity and mystery and spends a good portion of the film clinging to her, talking about needling out her secret, holding tourneys on her behalf, and seeing her marry well. I feel like one could take that possessive fascination with an intriguing toy even farther, especially if she does manage to have her real origins confirmed or learn that all her enchanting dancing comes at such a painful cost. Feel free to go a little dark if you are so inclined, I feel this is a ship that has both potential as something sweet and innocent or as something cruel and capricious.
As with the prior ship mentioned, I think art that fits with the conventions of fairy tales and illustrations thereof would fit well for this ship. I think scenes that focus on the princess' interest in the mermaid's dancing have a particular potential to be interesting given the implied pain this spectacle involves, but having them embracing, engaging in courtly pastimes, or witnessing the bloodsport of the a tournament together are all other possibilities.
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The Wizard's Shadow
[Requesting ART or FIC]This was my absolute favorite novel at around age twelve, and twelve-year old me had great taste. There's so much to love about this canon: fraught sibling relationships, cool takes on magic, a harrowingly violent opening chapter, an enchanted snakebaby gunning for the throne. I really love all the tropes Dexter is dealing in in this novel and I love how this piece ended up as a standalone entry in her world with the promise of Crocken and Miall enjoying future adventures never explored in a sequel.
Rhisiart/Miall: I deeply love the messed up fraternal relationships in this novel and I am deeply interested in the messy incestuous potential of the already deeply messy House of the Falcon. Miall coming into the House as a stranger and becoming the protector and sparring partner of his tragically sickly brother destined for heroism and kingship is such a deeply compelling dynamic and I'd love to see that relationship pushed to in extreme and obsessive directions, potentially underscoring Miall's seeming hatred and continued protectiveness as a shadow. Feel free to look either to the dynamics between the brothers in their youths or as undying shadow and very depressed regent.
In terms of art, making pieces that focus on the significance of shadows throughout the story could be really striking and potent--particularly playing with the animals Miall shows Rhisiart in his childhood or the phantom rider on Stormraker. It would also be cool to see the brothers in their youth with prophetic shadows of their respective futures being cast.
Rhisiart/Crocken: Crocken is so deeply into Rhisiart. Just meets the guy, meticulously learns everything about his tragic past, and determines they need to be bosom chums while he attempts to thwart multiple assassination attempts upon him. Turning this from a friendship into something with a romantic/sexual dimension would not be difficult and would add the additional deeply weird twist of Miall having to tag along and react (or even potentially comment).
Once again, I'm very cool with shadow heavy artwork for the shadow novel! Feel free to have Miall hanging around a picture where Crocken's sharing some emotional or tender moment with Rhisiart. I think it could also be interesting to have shadows of their respective pasts visible--Rhisiart as a man surrounded by a wife and child and Crocken as a beset peddler far flung from the finery of Amryn's court.
Rhisiart/Miall/Crocken: Crocken/Rhisiart is already weird and uncomfortable enough, given the former's attachment to the miserable ghost of the latter's brother, but I think it could be even more awkward still if rendered as Crocken/Rhisiart/Miall in a fashion where the shadow is experiencing/acting on some past desire. >:] This is also a perfect scenario in which the presence of unseen hands could be felt in a close encounter and the weirdness of shadowfuckery could be explored.
I think the optimal sort of art here probably involves some interaction between either Crocken/Rhisiart with an unseen shadow weighing in on the action, or between Rhisiart/Miall with Crocken as the awkward observer. An embrace that's awkwardly doubled but distorted in shadow form could work really well here. I think there's also potential for Crocken fussing over the wounded Rhisiart while his shadow fusses in some other direction or fashion.
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